"From the first time I ventured from the shore in a boat, I felt that my spirit was touched. On my first offshore trip to Bermuda, I began to think of the sea as my chapel. It was my soul that called me to this pilgrimage." Introduction, p. xvii

"It is not all fun and games. It is the autumn equinox, when storms rage, and within a week two severe gales rip up the English Channel." Log of Napoleon Solo, p. 4

"I lie down again clothed only in a t-shirt . The watch circles my wrist, and around my neck as a slab of whale tooth on a string. It is the most I will wear the next two and a half months." Nerves Exposed, p. 21.

"If I am thrown into the sea, I will shiver until the earth quakes. My lips will turn blue, my skin white. My grasp...